For the third time in his career and second time this season, Andrew Bynum was named the Western Conference Player of the Week after leading the Lakers to a 4-0 record despite Kobe Bryant’s absence due to his shin injury.

In leading the Lakers to road wins over New Orleans and San Antonio, and home defeats of Denver and Dallas, Bynum averaged 21.8 points, a league-best 16.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 blocks:

April 9 @ New Orleans: Scored 19 points on 7 of 10 FG’s with 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.April 11 @ San Antonio: Scored 16 points with 30 rebounds, two assists and two blocks in a 98-84 win. It was just the 20th time in franchise history that a Laker grabbed at least 30 rebounds, the other four players to do so – George Mikan, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – all Hall of Famers.April 13 vs. Denver: Scored 30 points with eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks in a 103-97 win over the Nuggets.April 15 vs. Dallas: Went for 23 points, 16 rebounds and two dimes as the Lakers topped the Mavericks 112-108 in OT.

His coach, Mike Brown, was particularly pleased with Bynum’s effort against Dallas, thanks to his dominance on defense.

“He was an absolute monster today,” said Brown. “I’m not talking about his 23 and 16, but he was a monster in the paint today in pick and rolls and lastly, rebounding the basketball. He was unbelievable. I think I enjoyed watching him more today than any other night because of his dominance, or presence, in that lane on both ends of the floor.

“Every rebound he got, he went and got. They didn’t fall in his hands, this is a very good box out team. He went and got every single rebound that he collected.”

Bynum’s last Western POW came for games played from March 12 to March 18, when he led the Lakers to a 3-1 week behind averages of 27.5 points and 14.8 rebounds while shooting 66.5 percent from the field.

His first career POW honors came for the week of 1/19/09 to 1/25/09, when he posted averages of 23.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.25 blocks in helping lead the Lakers to a 4-0 week.